MAY 2018 THE RIDER /37 Baker’s Saddlery Celebrates 100 Years
GORMLEY, ON – Baker’s Saddlery, on Wood- bine Avenue just north of Elgin Mills Road, is where Toronto-area horsepeople get their retail therapy. The unobtrusive shop, cheerfully crammed to the rafters with saddles, leather goods, apparel, and virtually everything an Eng- lish rider desires, is tucked in behind a white frame house, and these days, looks to be soon ut- terly surrounded with subdivisions. But it’s still going strong, under the management of owner Carmen Griscti, and his daughter, Jessie. In fact, Baker’s is celebrating an anniversary few other tack shops can match in 2018: 100 years in busi- ness.
Building Baker’s The Baker family, originally from Pennsyl-
vania, was granted farmland on Langstaff Road, between Bathurst and Dufferin, in the 1700s. But descendent Isaac Baker, perhaps due to frail health, was unable to do the hard labour of work- ing the land, so he apprenticed with Mennonite craftsmen to learn the harness-making trade in- stead. Isaac Baker built his shop, piece by piece, with recycled lumber as he could afford to buy it.
Baker’s Saddlery today. First addition 1992. Second addition 2012 Original Building at bottom left ?? Came from Little Britain
Griscti recalls. “It was scary, com- ing up here. But sometimes life forces you to make changes, and it ends up being the best thing you could have done.”
Harness and re-
pairs continued to be a signifi- cant part of the business, but became less so as local Men- nonites transi- tioned in large part to nylon harness. Eng- lish saddlery became
the
mainstay, and with an addition to the shop that more than dou- bled its floor space, in 1994,
He opened Baker’s Harness in 1918, specializing in fancy parade draft harness, driving harness, and assorted strap goods, all made with impeccable hand stitching. Anything made of leather, Isaac could craft, including firearms holsters for the po- lice, and specialty items for local fire departments. For the next six decades his store would be a com- munity hub — a remarkable record of longevity in an age when horses were disappearing from the Canadian landscape. Isaac Baker was in his 80s in 1980 when he
approached his apprentice of six years, Carmen Griscti, to take over the business, for a buy-in of $10,000. “As a mentor, he was incredibly strict. His
way of teaching was to tell me it wasn’t good enough. I had to figure it out. It made me think,” Griscti says. “He was not an easy man, but he was gener-
ous with his time, and had incredibly high stan- dards. He was teaching a way of life.” Bakers Harness had already survived mas-
sive changes in its customer base, transitioning from a focus on harness, to saddlery and supplies for the dozens of riding stables that were spring- ing up all over the Toronto area – places like Leitchcroft and Joker’s Hill. But a more devastating threat was yet to
come. In December, 1984, the harness shop nearly burnt to the ground in a disastrous fire. Griscti recalls, “It went on all day before
(firefighters) got it under control. At the end, the building was still standing, but everything inside was destroyed. It took us four months to open again. I remember trying to salvage pieces of burnt leather, scrape off the worst of the damage and sell it for a few dollars. I had no income at all while I tried to get back on my feet, but I did have some great clients, like the Governor Gen- eral’s Horse Guards, who supported me when things were at their worst.”
New Beginnings The rebuilt store remained on Langstaff
Road until 1986, when the lease was up. Griscti relocated to Woodbine Avenue, outside the Toronto city limits. The building that first housed Baker’s Harness and Saddlery at the new location had once been an antique shop, and before that, a pig pen. “It was the middle of nowhere at the time,”
Craig Hunter and Family and Staff
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Baker’s selection of riding apparel and accessories expanded. A second addition, completed
in 2013, provided vital space for one of the largest selections of new and used saddles in Canada. Baker’s now offers consultations for saddles, by appointment. The advice on saddle-fitting and which brands and models are appropriate for which horses, based on Griscti’s decades of experience, is part of the experience. Sometimes, it takes the form of
a reality check: “You’re not going to become a better rider just be-
Your horse has given you a lifetime of love and it is hard to walk away when the time has come to say goodbye
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cause you bought these boots, or this saddle. It’s hard work, that’s all, and you get out of it what you’re willing to put into it. There are no magic so- lutions. All I try to do is fit the horse, and fit the rider, so they can move for- ward.” Griscti’s daughter, Jessie, be-
came involved in 2012, bringing new ideas, and a social media presence, to Baker’s.
“I think we’ve adapted well,”
says Griscti. “We’ve survived all the changes in the area – the road has gone from dirt to four lanes of pave- ment, subdivisions are moving in, but there’s still good energy here. I’m comfortable here, and the basic think- ing Isaac taught me is still here: don’t short-change your customers, teach them something, and do the best job you can. “There are cats, and some dust,
and it’s a little bit messy, but there’s a story to this place. Every morning when I come in here, everything I
look at is part of the evolution.” One thing that has never
changed is the name. “Renaming it would have been a disservice to Isaac,” Griscti says. “We dropped the ‘harness’, but it will always be Baker’s.” Baker’s Saddlery will be cele-
brating its centennial with a sale on May 24 to 27th! Come celebrate with them and enjoy prices as they were in 1918, BBQ, Music, Raffle and so much more!
Horse Shows
2018 ●
For more information please visit
www.foxrunhorseproducts.com
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